Recording Exposure Settings

[h2oskierc]

What is the easiest way to record exposure settings when you are out shooting? I shoot film, and I have never really mastered the art. Any tips greatly appreciated!

[Peter_AUS]

Use a small dictating machine hand held, have it in your pocket and use that to record each frame.

[Gerry Widen]

About a week ago I picked up a small journal from a local book store. About 5X7" maybe a little smaller. Fits in my fanny pack or in my back pocket. So far I find it very handy for recording exposures or just general photography notes and to do's.

[h2oskierc]

Thanks for the tips!

What do you end up recording or writing down? For example do you give each roll a number, and then record the frame number, then exposure?

[another view]

I rarely record film exposure settings. When I do, it's because I try a few different variations - for example shutter speeds with moving water - and want to know what works.

The reason I don't do it much is because (unless you're in a studio) you're never shooting exactly the same scene in exactly the same light again. Sure, it might be close the next time, but using the same exposure in different light will (of course) give you different results. In the example of moving water, the stream may be flowing faster or slower next time too. This will give you different results even for the same shutter speed.

I'm more likely to keep notes about how I metered a scene than the exact readings. In the case of a sunset, I would probably spot meter the sky near the sun (how far your reading is from the sun makes a big difference) and set that at one stop over. Then I might bracket -2/3, -1/3, +1/3, +2/3. That's the notes I'd keep. A few minutes earlier or later, all your exposure reading will change but if you use the same technique to arrive at your exposure reading, then your results will be *predictable*. That should be the goal of keeping exposure notes - so you know what worked for you before and can do it again.

[Franglais]

What is the easiest way to record exposure settings when you are out shooting? I shoot film, and I have never really mastered the art. Any tips greatly appreciated!

I always have a notebook with me that I use to record details of photos (and lots of other things besides). However, I certainly don't record every shot:

- the photos I do are usually related to some Event, so I note the date/time and "keyword" defining the event
- I note each lens I used (and other equipment like flash & tripod), the metering method and the exposure (or approximate range of exposures)
- I note each time I finish a film. My films are numbered sequentially. This allows me to establish the link Event-Film

When I get home I enter all this information into an MS-Access database The next time I'm preparing for the same sort of situation, I can go back and find the settings I used last time, and perhaps make a different choice

Its a fairly economical method and I've found it quite useful.

Charles